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[TheHempInvader]

Ok, im sure some of you have heard of the recently made movie Eragon. And to those whom have seen it, you'll know what I mean when I say that its freakin horrible... In every way...

But, the books are extremely good. I have read Eragon and its sequal Eldest (Which I assure you, to my dismay, that they are making a movie of too at some point) and am anxiously awaiting the thrid in this brilliant trilogy...

Now - to my point... Is anyone else somewhat excited about the latest book? Any ideas on what turns for the worst the plot might take? And does anyone have any idea on when they'll let me preorder it?... Being released in September or October to my knowledge.

Also - Sorry for any and all typo's, but my finger is sore, letting me resort to using different fingers to what I normaly would.

[Surgoshan]

I've read the two that are out and they truly are exceptional, in that they're remarkable efforts by a first author who also happens to be 17.  Otherwise they're kind of sub-par.  The plot is recycled, the characters are shallow, and the author (Chris Pelozni or something?  I'll wiki it later) displays a complete ignorance of swordplay.  All told, not much new and I had to work at it not to laugh at the books.  Still, enjoyable reads so long as you don't mind not being surprised by the twists.

[Tom]

Couldn't stand 'em when they first came out, then again I've never been a fan of that whole plot taken from another plot taken from another and so on to ad nauseum.

[axerton]

Personally I preferred it when it was called Star Wars.

To my mind these books should have remained forever locked in the realm of some kids draw or at best on a website only ever being read a dozen or so times, unfortunately Paolini's dad had enough money to publish the thing and thus we were inflicted with it. Now I'm not saying that Paolini is an inherently bad writer, the problem is that every young writer must go through this stage where they make a great grand story, thinking it's the best thing in the world and not realising it is a recycled pile of shit. between the ages of fourteen and eighteen I, too, planned and attempted to write a grand fantasy and looking at it now I can see that it a terrible cliché with maybe a few useable/original ideas. 

[MadassAlex]

I tried to read it once. I think I managed to reach the end of the first chapter, maybe. It was really, really bad.

[KvP]

Isn't the writer the nephew of a big shot publisher or something?

Anyway, they came out well after I had lost interest in high fantasy and gained a love for sci fi.

[CamusCanDo]

I agree with the previous posts. Generic archetypes in a very cliched setting. The unoriginality far outweighed what unique ideas were in the books.

[KharBevNor]

Man, I borrowed the first book from my GF like, two years ago and still haven't gotten round to reading it.

[Eris]

I read it, but have no recollection of any details from it. Entirely forgettable. The movie was a nice generic fantasy movie, which I enjoyed because I couldn't remember the book at all.

[Spluff]

I dunno, it always seemed pretty cheesy and clichéd to me. Doesn't help that I'm pretty sure the title was just when he went to type 'dragon' and hit the letter above the D by accident.

[TheHempInvader]

Doesn't help that I'm pretty sure the title was just when he went to type 'dragon' and hit the letter above the D by accident.

I had to quote that because I couldn't help but laugh... Making my family look at me oiddly...

Well... I spend all my time on a computer and praise Monty Python as a god, but thanks to this thread, it is even now more apparent that my tastes aren't really reliable... Or even sane...

Well disreguard this message/topic... I'll go find something better to do. Heh...

EDIT - Fixed n0t_r0bert_b0yle!!  ^.^

[Tom]

To define any one's taste as 'normal' is one of the greatest fallacies you could possibly make. After all, everyone to his or her own.

Not that it matters, but I, and a fair number of the other forumites on these boards listen to Crystal Castles too.

[TheHempInvader]

Not that it matters, but I, and a fair number of the other forumites on these boards listen to Crystal Castles too.

Fixed! I personally love Crystal Castles, but everone that I show them to in the real world looks at me weird, then runs away...

Sorry if I offended you! Heh...

[volatile]

The rehashed and thinly veiled cliches made this series almost sad to read. 

I saw the movie first, thinking that something with both Malkovich and Irons couldn't be that much of a turd, right?  Ha.  Hahaha.  Ha ha.  Wow, yeah.

[CamusCanDo]

Basically everyone agrees that Eragon is teh balls. So is it possible to turn this thread into a discussion on fantasy novels that aren't totally shit?

For example, right now I'm reading Before They Are Hanged which is the second book in Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy. The first book being The Blade Itself released in '06 was more than well recieved for taking stereotypical archetypes and reworking them in interesting ways. Veteran barbarians from the North who're sick of fighting, pompus ex-soldier turned crippled tortuer and legendary wizards that are now regarded as little more than inconvenient annoyances. The first book blew me away with it's dark humor and detective noir sub-plot, two elements the second book is definitely lacking. Still enjoyable as the first, just not in the same aspect.

Anyone else have any?

[Dimmukane]

My little brother wrote a 15-page fantasy novel (super-condensed, and he was only 14) that I liked more than Eragon.  But on with fantasy discussion.

I feel that the vast majority of fantasy novels all recycle cliches, not just ones by young writers.  The last decent fantasy novel I read (that was new, mind you, I've been reading Robert E. Howard recently), I can't even remember the name of because it was a year ago.

[Surgoshan]

I'm rereading Gaiman's Anansi Boys.  Neil Gaiman's made of win.

[Lines]

I think the books are okay for easy, quick reads for fun, but other than that, they aren't great examples of fantasy. There are a lot of books I can think of that are better, but will I read the third book when it comes out? Yes, because I hate leaving off in the middle of a story unless the book is so bad it's painful to read. I definitely think these books are meant for a younger audience and unlike Harry Potter, they don't really break out of the intended age level very well.

And I just bought Anansi Boys and will read it when I have time. ^_^ Neil Gaiman is awesome.

[Dissy]

I remember watching the movie with one of my buddies.

He turned to me, I turned to him and had the following discussion.
Him: "I'm watching Star Wars"
Me: "Set in Middle Earth."
Him: "With John Malkovich as the Emperor."
Me: "And Simon Gruber* as Obi Wan."

My sister was totally pissed cause the movie "only took the basic plot, and screwed it all up."  So, afterwards, I read the book, and thought the same thing as my friend and I thought in the movie.

Anyways, my favourite fantasy novel (or is it pulp fiction) is this one: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/pmars-table.html

[GenericName]

Guys we've been through enough centuries of literature that everything is recycled from somewhere. Just most novelists do it by accident.

That said, I got my first and only completely-recycled-plot novel out of the way at like eight. I remember it was a complete ripoff of Lord Of The Rings, and I remember nothing else.


In addition, a couple of my friends and I went through Eldest and sticky-noted all the retarded things that were written/said. We than ran out of sticky notes.

[MadassAlex]

Terry Pratchett is a really, really good author in my opinion. He tends to write comedic fantasy, but it sits on a fine line with sci-fi.

[volatile]

I'm rereading Gaiman's Anansi Boys.  Neil Gaiman's made of win.

This is troof.  American Gods is also ridiculously good.


I'm still a huge fan/nerd of the best fantasy ever: Lord of the Rings.  Read it every summer, which reminds me...I have to hunt down my copy.

Another favorite of mine is called Birth of the Firebringer.  It's, uh, about unicorns.  I read it and loved it as a kid, and then revisited it a few years back.  Surprisingly, it really held up well.

[CamusCanDo]

I feel that the vast majority of fantasy novels all recycle cliches, not just ones by young writers.  The last decent fantasy novel I read (that was new, mind you, I've been reading Robert E. Howard recently), I can't even remember the name of because it was a year ago.

Recent authors like Scott Lynch, Hal Duncan, China Mieville, Jeff Vandermeer, Patrick Rothfuss, Kelly Link and Brandon Sanderson are starting to do really interesting things with the fantasy/speculative fiction genre and are really worthwhile checking out.

Gaimans!

I'm in on the Gaiman love. Last month I bought the first two volumes in the Absolute Sandman series on a whim. I don't regret it at all considering it cost me my left nut and the loss of the right in 3 years time. I plan on pre-ordering the third volume from amazon that comes out in June. I recently read a novel called The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaternia Sedia which has been likened to Gaiman's American Gods, so if you're looking for something in the same vein as Gaiman then I'd definitely recommend this.

*Edit*

Guys we've been through enough centuries of literature that everything is recycled from somewhere. Just most novelists do it by accident.

Agreed. It's that with fantasy novels in particular, and to a lesser extent sci-fi, a majority of them borrow from the same mythologies. Got a character that loses a hand? Most likely fashioned after the Norse god Tyr. Blinded protaginist? Most likely after the Arthurian Fisher King. Lost an eye and you're probably Odin. It's really no surprise that a lot of stuff out there seems recycled when it's basically all just taken from the same sources.

[Surgoshan]

On my brother's recommendation, and because it's written by Gaiman, I bought Preludes and Nocturnes.  It was my first comic book purchase since my first comic book purchase at the age of ten and I seriously don't regret it.

Terry Pratchett narrowly defeats Gaiman as my favorite author.  It was a long and bloody battle, but it was hilarious and full of commentary about the human condition.  Them being British, it was a battle of dry and largely cynical wit.  And fisticuffs.

[CamusCanDo]

Terry Pratchett narrowly defeats Gaiman as my favorite author.  It was a long and bloody battle, but it was hilarious and full of commentary about the human condition.  Them being British, it was a battle of dry and largely cynical wit.  And fisticuffs.

I'm ashamed to say, but I've never read a Pratchett book, except for Good Omens and that only half counts. I've always wanted to get into Discworld Whenever there's a series of that magnitude I always have trouble commiting to it so I just put it off.

[Surgoshan]

It's not a series; it's a collection of several much smaller series.  There are several good standalone books as well.  I recommend Small Gods as a good standalone and my personal preference in series is the Night Watch series; Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, and Thud!.

[Dimmukane]

Yeah, I do have to say Night Watch is my favorite.  Not that I don't like Pratchett's satire, on the contrary, I love it, but I liked it more because of its' serious moments.

I basically don't have time for reading books right now, but I will come back to this thread, because like I said, I haven't read a good fantasy novel by a new author for over a year.  Perhaps this should be repurposed as the fantasy books discussion thread instead of Eragon?

[Tom]

I'm rereading Gaiman's Anansi Boys.  Neil Gaiman's made of win.

I just got my 13yo brother onto that and he is absolutely loving it.

[CamusCanDo]

It's not a series; it's a collection of several much smaller series.  There are several good standalone books as well.  I recommend Small Gods as a good standalone and my personal preference in series is the Night Watch series; Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, and Thud!.

With any series that's set in the same world I consider that to be part of an over all series. I'm really anal about having to start at the beginning of anything and following it all the way through. I was given this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/briantrease/68310110/sizes/o/ quite a while ago (I actually had to look that one up since I couldn't find the one I thougnt I had in my favourites) which has always encouraged me to not completely give up on it.

Perhaps this should be repurposed as the fantasy books discussion thread instead of Eragon?

Eragon - Don't worry, I mean other books!

If you want to take it one step further it could become the speculative fiction thread, that way it includes other genres like horror, science fiction, magic realism, etc...

[Surgoshan]

The thing is that you don't have to read the Witch series to get any sense out of the Night Watch series.  That's like insisting that you have to read the Foundation Trilogy to make sense of Caves of Steel.